Inside the Institute

How To Remove 3 Valentine's Day Stains

Happy Valentine's Day! Hopefully you're indulging in some chocolate, red wine, and maybe even a new shade of lipstick today. But if, by chance, these goodies wind up on your clothes instead of in your mouth or on your lips, here's how to remove the stains from washable fabrics in a hurry.

1. Chocolate

Chocolate soaks into fabric a bit more slowly than other liquids, so get to it quickly and you'll have the most success. Start by gently scraping as much of the chocolate as you can from the fabric's surface with a spoon. Apply a laundry pre-treater or rub in a little liquid laundry detergent. Launder the item in the hottest water and with the type of bleach (chlorine or oxygen) that's safe for the fabric.

2. Red Wine

Quickly blot up as much of the wine as possible with an absorbent cloth and then generously sponge the stain with cool water. For a very large stain, soak the entire garment in cool water for about 30 minutes. Apply a laundry pre-treater and launder the garment as you usually do with a dose of chlorine or oxygen bleach added.

3. Lipstick

Lipstick rarely penetrates a fabric, so the best way to remove it is to push it out from the back. Lay the stain face down on an absorbent cloth. Grab a pre-moistened make-up remover wipe and dab the back of the stain. Work the liquid from the wipe into the fabric to help dissolve the lipstick and push it into the absorbent cloth. Rotate the cloth to a clean area as it absorbs the lipstick and continue working until no more stain is released. Treat any remaining lipstick with a laundry pre-spotter and wash the garment in the hottest water and with the type of bleach that's safe for the fabric.

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